Virginia Governor Backtracks on Backwards “Essay Requirement” for Former Felons
As Congress deliberates over setting a federal standard for restoring the civil rights of released felons, Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell... Read more
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New Policy Paper on Felon Voting Rights
Today Project Vote is pleased to announce the latest release in our 2010 Issues in Election Administration series, Restoring Voting... Read more
This Week’s Election Legislation Hearings
Hearings for important election bills are scheduled as follows: Read more
NY Times Editorializes in Favor of Democracy Restoration Act
The New York Times wrote in favor of a bill to restore the voting rights of four million Americans that... Read more
Va. Adjourns with Many Key Bills Expected to Return in 2011
Virginia’s 2010 legislative session began January 13 and continued until March13. Overwhelmingly, the commonwealth’s budget crisis took center stage in... Read more
Former Inmate Illustrates Transformative Power of the Ballot Box
With millions of Americans living and working in our communities, but disenfranchised by past felony convictions, Congress has taken the... Read more
WaPo and Advocates Push for Restoration of Voting Rights in Virginia
In light of a Washington ruling that struck down the state voting rights restoration procedure for felons as “racially discriminatory,” advocates continue to push Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to use his last days of executive power to overturn the state’s “relic of Virginia's Jim Crow era.” Read more
Court Finds Washington Voting Law Racially Discriminatory
Some good news came out of Washington Tuesday. Sound unlikely? That’s because the news comes from the state of Washington, where the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals essentially struck down the state’s felon disenfranchisement law because it’s racially discriminatory and violates the federal Voting Rights Act. Read more
Civil Rights Groups Shed Light on Democratic Injustice in Congressional Briefing
There is a sad truth in America – millions of hard-working and tax-paying citizens are denied one of the most fundamental rights – the right to vote. Felony disenfranchisement laws affect a total of 5.3 million Americans, four million of whom are out of prison and currently living and working in their communities. Aiming to shed light on this terrible injustice, the American Bar Association, ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice, Drug Policy Alliance, and Sentencing Project recently held a Congressional briefing to discuss the Democracy Restoration Act (S.1516/H.R.3335). The groups voiced their concerns with felony disenfranchisement and their reasons for supporting the Democracy Restoration Act. Read more
Restoration of Civil Rights Gets Attention in Wisconsin and Virginia
Last month, we reported that citizens are becoming more sympathetic to voting rights restoration as they realize disenfranchisement of released felons does not just unnecessarily punish the ex-offender, but also the voice of their communities. This news resonated recently in the states of Wisconsin and Virginia – one of which has hopes of restoring the rights of some 40,000 ex-offenders while the other is criticized for “lagging” in restoration of civil rights. Read more